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Breaking down the GOP presidential debate
By Alex Leary, Michael C. Bender and Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Friday, September 23, 2011
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Breaking down the debate By Alex Leary, Michael C. Bender and Aaron Sharockman | Times Staff Writers
| The candidate | Quote | Best moment | Biggest misstep | Rating the performance | |
| Michele Bachmann, 55 U.S. representative from Minnesota since 2007. Married with five children, 23 foster children. | On flights to Cuba: "According to the State Department's website, there are four nations that are state sponsors of terror. Cuba is one of those nations. We would never have flights between the United States and Cuba. It's a state sponsor of terror." | Talking about the separation of church and state, saying it "doesn't mean that we aren't people of faith and that people of faith shouldn't be allowed to exercise religious liberty in the public square." | Failing to own up to her comments linking HPV to mental retardation. Saying "I didn't make that claim nor did I make that statement," doesn't hold up. | As the race boils down to Perry vs. Romney, Bachmann seems to be falling squarely into the second tier. She did nothing on Thursday to suggest that's not where she belongs. | |
| Herman Cain, 65 Former CEO and president of Godfather's Pizza; professional author, speaker. Married with two children. | On federal education policy: "All of the programs where there are strings attached, cut all the strings." | Using his personal story about beating colon and liver cancer as a entry point to attack the new federal health care law. | Talking about the Chilean model for reforming Social Security. Might be good policy, but it's hard for people to follow. Same for Cain's "9-9-9" tax plan. | Likeable, sharp and got some of the biggest applause lines of the night. But his policies — and he has them — don't come across in short snippets. | |
| Newt Gingrich, 68 Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; consultant and author. Married with two children. | On curbing federal spending: "I believe with leadership we can balance the budget. I did it for four consecutive years. We went from $2.2 trillion projected deficit over a decade to $2.7 trillion projected surplus when I left. I think it is doable, but it takes real leadership." | Bringing up Ronald Reagan and pounding against Barack Obama. | Passing on opportunities to attack Romney or Perry. You can't beat the front-runners if you don't at least question them. | No doubt about it, Gingrich is smart, articulate and can preach to many Republican voters. | |
| Jon Huntsman, 51 Former U.S. ambassador to China; former governor of Utah. Married with seven children. | On foreign policy: "All that I want right now is for America to take care of America." | Talking about foreign policy and saying the best thing U.S. can do is strengthen economy at home. He walked a line between sounding knowledgeable about the world while focusing on what voters seem to want, which is a focus on domestic woes. | Evading question on credits for energy start-ups, then saying he would support some government subsidies. Dangerous territory given scandal over Solyndra, solar company that got $535 million government loan then went bust. | Smart guy but too moderate for the GOP right now. Did not do anything to stand out. | |
| Gary Johnson, 58 Former governor of New Mexico; formed the OUR America Initiative. Divorced with two adult children. | On the jobs record of Barack Obama: "My next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration." | Promising to propose a balanced budget to Congress in his first year in office and veto any bill if expenditures exceed revenue. | Staying so far away from conflict that he wouldn't even say whether he was a better Libertarian than Paul. | This was Johnson's introduction to many Republican voters, who might like what they heard: He's a former handyman who has only run twice before for office: The first time for New Mexico governor and the second time for re-election. | |
| Ron Paul , 76 U.S. representative from Texas; retired medical doctor. Married with five children, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. | On the federal government: "There's no authority in the Constitution to do so much of what we're doing. There's no authority for them to run our schools, no authority to control our economy and no authority to control us as individuals and what we do with our personal lives." | Taking on No Child Left Behind, an education program from former President George W. Bush. Paul said the country should not enforce the law because, "Nobody likes it." | Short-changing his answer to a question about the 10th Amendment. Paul left time on the clock and had to be prodded by the moderator. | Paul's message of less government resonates once again, but not enough to boost him into the top tier of contenders. | |
| Rick Perry, 61 Governor of Texas since 2000; former Air Force pilot; former cotton and wheat farmer. Married with two children. | On in-state tuition for illegal immigrants: "If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart." | Bringing up his friendly rivalry for jobs with Gov. Rick Scott, who is popular among Florida Republican primary voters. | Needlessly getting drawn into a back-and-forth over immigration with also-ran Santorum, who said Perry was weak on the issue. Perry shot back, asking if Santorum had ever been to the border. Santorum: "Yes." | The Texas governor was the target of most of his fellow Republicans on stage. He survived, but looked wobbly at times, changing the topic away from Social Security, failing to land a counter-punch on immigration and stumbling through an attempt to embarrass Romney. | |
| Mitt Romney, 64 Former governor of Massachusetts; founded Bain Capital, a venture capital firm. Married with five children. | On his personal history: "I love this country. I spent my life in the private sector, not in government. I only spent four years as a governor. I didn't inhale." | Playing off Perry's controversial stance on Social Security, including letting states take some control. In Florida, Romney has found a solid issue. | No big missteps. Sat back, again, as Perry got hammered on by other candidates. | Perry's entrance into the race has made Romney a better candidate. Romney looks more aggressive, prepared and confident. Pleased crowd with his opposition to providing children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition. | |
| Rick Santorum, 53 Former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania; former U.S. representative. Married with seven children. | On why illegal immigrants should not get in-state tuition for college: "They can go; they just have to borrow money, find other sources to be able to go." | Going back and forth with Perry over illegal immigration. Gave him exposure on a key issue with Republicans, and landed blow on front-runner, calling him "soft." | Questioned by a gay solider (via video), Santorum said he would reinstate the "Don't ask, don't tell policy." Many Republicans agree with him, but the soldier got boos from the crowd and that could turn off some voters to Santorum. | He knows the issues, went hard at Perry on immigration and got more air time than past debates. But Santorum ended the night as he began — at the back of the pack. |
[Last modified: Sep 23, 2011 10:03 AM]
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